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Case investigation and contact tracing (CICT) were among the primary nonpharmaceutical interventions for COVID-19 before vaccines became widely available. Previous studies estimated that CICT played an important role in mitigating [...]

The purpose of this paper is to engage critically with debates surrounding the mental health and wellbeing agenda for adult community learning (ACL), with particular consideration of creative arts provision. It draws on a qualitative research project involving five creative arts ACL groups in the English West Midlands and two mental health participatory arts organisations based in London. Of the ACL groups, one was targeted for mental health recovery, two were targeted for wellbeing, and two were mainstream. Fieldwork involved participant observation, interviews and group discussions with attendees, and interviews with volunteers, ACL and art therapy practitioners, ACL project organisers, and managers working in the organisations taking part in the research and other adult learning settings. The article outlines key critical debates. It then interrogates three related themes, drawing on a range of evidence from the study: (1) the discourse of confidence and self-esteem; (2) interactions between educational and mental health and wellbeing-related goals and outcomes; and (3) the role of creative arts subjects in the mental health and wellbeing agenda for ACL. Implications for policy and practice are set out in conclusion, including consideration of ACL curricula and pedagogical approaches in the area of mental health and wellbeing.

IntroductionMost individuals with Down syndrome (DS) have the neuropathological changes of Alzheimer's disease (AD) by age 40 and will have developed dementia by age 60. Alterations of the intrinsic connectivity of the default mode network (DMN) are associated with AD in the neurotypical population. In this study, we sought to determine whether, and how, connectivity between the hubs of the DMN were altered in cognitively stable adults with DS who did not have evidence of either mild cognitive impairment or AD.MethodsResting state functional MRI scans were collected from 26 healthy adults with DS and 26 healthy age-matched non-DS controls. Nodes comprising the DMN were generated as ROI's (regions of interest) and inter-nodal correlations estimated.ResultsAnalysis of intra-network connectivity of the DMN revealed anterior-posterior DMN dissociation and hyper- and hypo-connectivity, suggesting "accelerated aging" in DS.DiscussionDisruption of the DMN may serve as a prelude for AD in DS.

"Resilience" has become a popular goal in research, social policy, intervention design and implementation. Reinforced by its conceptual and political slipperiness, resilience has become a key construct in school-based, universal interventions that aim to develop it as part of social and emotional competence or emotional well-being. Drawing on a case study of a popular behavioural programme used widely in British and American primary schools, this paper uses a critical social understanding that combines bio-scientific and social constructionist ideas in order to evaluate key challenges for policy, research and practice framed around resilience. The paper argues that although critical social perspectives illuminate important contemporary manifestations of old problems with behavioural interventions, and challenge narrow, moralising definitions of "risk" and "vulnerability", they coalesce with behavioural perspectives in a search for better state-sponsored responses to the shared question of how to build resilience amongst "vulnerable" groups and individuals. Instead, we argue that critical sociologists need to resist responses that offer more sophisticated behavioural interventions and generate new forms of governance and subjectivity.

In the United Kingdom, changes in the policy, funding and commissioning landscape for mental health and well-being are posing opportunities and challenges for adult community learning (ACL). Opportunities include increased recognition of, and funding for, the "wider benefits" of learning, whereas challenges include the risks of ACL provision becoming hijacked by a health and well-being agenda that compromises its primary educational purpose and values. This paper engages with these policy debates through reporting on a study of mental health ACL that employed the capabilities approach along with two other complementary areas of social theory--recognition theories and theories of capitals. Its aim was to explore the means through which ACL impacts mental health and to draw out implications for policy and practice. Findings from focus groups with adult learners and tele-discussions with ACL practitioners revealed three main means through which the provision helped generate interlinked mental health and educational capabilities: providing recognition, generating resources (capitals) and enhancing agency freedom. Elaborating these findings, the paper sets out an argument for interpretation of the mental health and well-being agenda in ACL in terms of a humanistic, liberatory pedagogy that encompasses feminist praxis and draws out policy implications across the areas of ACL and mental health.

Never before in human history has it been more important for a person to be geographically literate. But the unsettling reality is that many teachers and most students are not yet geographically literate. Currently, American students are not even provided opportunities to learn enough geography to understand the very basic aspects of the world in which they live. Without explicit intervention and a dedicated focus on geographic literacy by educators, curriculum developers, and policymakers, U.S. children will be unable to thrive in the global marketplace, unlikely to connect with and care for their natural environment, and unsure about how to relate to people from other parts of the world. One thing is abundantly clear; if American children hope to participate in democracy and play a strong leadership role in the world, they must possess geographic knowledge, understandings, and skills. The Instructional Materials and Professional Development Committee of the Road Map project gathered to identify the needs for geography education in this twenty-first century. These needs span every grade level in the nation's formal and informal education systems in public and private education. These needs extend beyond the stand-alone geography course and exist in science, technology, mathematics, social studies, arts, and English language arts courses as well. These needs can and should be addressed through carefully designed and properly implemented instructional materials and professional development. This article provides ten important recommendations for educators, developers, policymakers, and funders to seriously consider in supporting student learning, teacher learning, and large-scale collaboration and change in the field of geography education through instructional materials and professional development. Each recommendation is presented in the full report with a core argument and supporting research, vignettes of each recommendation in practice, examples of alignment with Common Core State Standards, additional information about recommended strategies or principles, and recommended readings.

Data Day, an event that is the culmination of a multiple-week unit, is the perfect opportunity to work across disciplines and, in particular, aligns beautifully with skills and objectives geography teachers work on with their students. Bruce Jones at The Blake School in Hopkins, Minnesota, was the originator of Data Day. Jones described the project as a three-week unit on the scientific method in which Data Day is the focal point. On this day, students invite others in the school community to be the subjects of their experiments. This takes place in a carnival-like atmosphere as students ask other students, parents, and teachers to participate in taste tests, basketball shoots, memory games, video games, visual puzzles, song recognition activities, and other data-gathering experiments. Students are immersed in the scientific methods of planning and carrying out experiments, and gathering quantities of data, which are then analyzed, graphed, and presented orally and in published form. Bridget Williams, the dynamic fourth- and fifth-grade science teacher at National Cathedral School, established the annual Data Day at her school several years ago. Jones was her mentor, and Williams adapted his ideas to fit the schedule and needs of fifth-grade students. Before engaging in applying the scientific method for the Data Day project, Williams teaches students the scientific method and why each step is critical to the success of the experiment. The scientific method is: (1) observation; (2) statement of the problem/ask a question; (3) research; (4) hypothesis; (5) experiment; (6) record the data; (7) organize and analyze the data; (8) reach conclusion; and (9) share results. This Data Day model is a strong one for helping students see the interconnectedness of the different disciplines and for each discipline to achieve its desired objectives. (Contains 1 figure.)

To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954X.2007.00705.x Byline: Lydia Lewis (1) Abstract: Abstract Researching 'hidden' forms of social inequality such as gender often poses particular challenges. Not least of these is how to uncover such dimensions of social life whilst preserving the perspectives of research participants, who may not consider such matters relevant to their lives, particularly if other forms of identity or oppression are more prominent for them. Here, I reflect on these issues in the context of researching user involvement in mental health services from a feminist perspective. I show how 'uncovering' gender and other forms of social inequality in the field was aided through adopting a wide analytical lens focusing on power, along with reflexivity and openness in discussing my own political analysis and commitments in relation to the study area with the researched. I also describe how I attempted to resolve the epistemological-ethical issues involved through conceptualising these in terms of 'situatedness' and gender salience and adopting a feminist standpoint which emphasised what researchers can, and indeed should, bring to the research enterprise. Related issues of power and empowerment in the research process are discussed. Author Affiliation: (1)University of Warwick Article History: Received 18 May 2004Finally accepted 19 October 2006